Since we are highjacking...here is our home both before and after a nightmare renovation...thought it would be fitting given the direction of this thread.

However I am glad we did not have to go through it twice!

Before
http://home.comcast.net/~jmpfleet/2.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~jmpfleet/2homeside.JPG
with the old Land Rover, Volvo and first German vehicle under the cover (74 Super Beetle sold to make way for the Boxster last summer)

After
http://home.comcast.net/~jmpfleet/2home.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~jmpfleet/2home2.JPG

Really nice.

I like how the corner lot allowed you to have the garage around the corner as opposed to dominating the front of the house, as most do. I hid my garage on the back side as well. I could really use more garages, but our only available space would be right in our water view, so that ain't happening.

Thanks Grizz,

Interesting that you pointed that out...the garage location (not dominating the home) is one of the things I loved about this particular lot when we picked it up 10 years ago. Given our relative location to NYC the lots in this area are commonly 100 x 50-100, so a corner lot and a garage in this layout really work well.

All across America, land has become so precious that floorplans dictate that the houses all be "Garage with a 3 bedroom attached home".

I hate it. The elevation looks like crap, but worse, within a few years the garage is full and the cars are forced to be parked in the driveway. Then the kids grow up and they get a beat up car as their first car and park it in front of the house on the street...

Now drive down that street and all one sees is mass of cars... that's what really turns me off from attached front facing garages in new middle class subdivisions. In Houston, you have to pay an extra 75k for a much larger or older home to get a detached garage that is situated behind the home itself.

(no offense to anyone who lives in one of these homes... it's just a strong personal opinion)

At least you guys have LAND....

I live in a 10,300sqf home that is on a 7,441sqf LOT. When you buy a home in California thats exactly what you get....THE HOME.

I've got family in Jersey and they freakin have 1.5Acres...

10,300 square feet? Did I read that right? You live in a friggin' palace compared to my 2100 square foot bungalow.

Sorry, TriGem... being able to afford that kind of square footage does not make me feel sorry for you. :dance:

I ain't envious of your property taxes though. :eek:

Randal my parents bought the home in 1999 as a forclosure for just over $700k, so our property tax isn't nearly as high as it would be if the house sold at what it was worth.

So, since this thread is totally about homes now :eek: , just curious....who's got the biggest home and lot on this forum?? I know it's NOT me, but just wondering...

I have a little over an acre, but I also have square footage comparable to Randall. I love my little acreage that still has trees, wild birds at times, and rabbits..etc.. When the nieces and nephews drop by they can easily go camping and I don't have to worry about where they are. Plus, I do like having the space between the homes as Randall was talking about.

Anyway, it sure looks like TriGem's folks, Boggtown and Grizzly's place are up there....and I know that one of the folks out there has an approximate 6-8 car garage...pretty sweet!!

BTW, TriGem....don't you get lost in there? How do you guys communicate at home??...via intercom??? Very nice!! :cheers:

Dude your place is big LOL but my question is, how do you fit 10,300 sqfeet on 7441 lot? is that cause theres a 2nd story?

My aunt had a 4125 sqft house and its freaken huge! if i could the upstair its 8250 sqfeet but it looks like 2 houses side by side. Do you have a large number of family members living in the household? that can make any size place seem alot smaller than it really is.

Cmon man, TriGem could put my house in his garage and still have room for the Porsche. I'm at 4,600 sq ft and the lot is only about 1/3 acre. It's hard to find good sized waterfront or waterview property on this side of the bridge. They line the homes up like dominos. Then there are strict impervious surface restrictions in the Critical Bay Area.

Hey Grizz,
...LOL, looks bigger than that! Anyway, still very nice!! Did you do all the work yourself?? Or were you required by the insurance company to use their guys.

BTW, I recall you did the work in your pool table room (at least, I think that was you).......that was real nice too!

I used contractors for most of the work, mainly because I don't have the time to do it myself. If my wife waited for me to rebuild, we'd still be sleeping in mud. We've decided to take the two decks off the back and build a sunroom on the first floor with a deck on the roof of it. I'll probably do that myself. We also want to build a large cuppola in the center of the second story, with a spiral staircase from the second floor family room. I'll need an architect and a good contractor for that one. :eek:

The pool room wasn't me. There have been a couple of guys' pool rooms on the board. Super66 comes to mind. If you really want to see something outrageous, check out the kitchen that Urotrash built from scratch. I think the post is titled something about his summer vacation. Unreal.

dcporsche99 - We don't really get lost....anymore. When we first moved in the house felt HUGE! The pervious home we lived in was 2300sqf so a jump of 8000sqf just felt insane. After almost 7 years in this house it feels normal. Oh and I don't know about anyone else on the board but those NuTone intercom systems are worthless, we have never used it.

CJ - It is 2 stories, the ground floor is just over 5400sqf that includes two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The 2nd floor is all bedrooms and bathrooms and a laundry room.


Randall - How are those diffusers coming along?

i think the issue with the NuTone intercom system at our place was that it was so old that the buttons that make the microphone connection would get dirty and cause LOTS of static!

TriGem, check my other thread... they're not sticking to the sides of the car. Grrr.

The trick is to have a super basement. It doesnt count in your sq footage because its underground, so you dont have to pay such a high tax on it! :)

Randall, are these the ones from ebay seller Maxspeed Motorsports?

Bogg - I have never seen a home in SoCal with a basement. It would be awesome to have one though